The purpose of the MAMS (Master in Applied Mathematical Sciences) program is to mathematically train students who wish to work in business, government, or industry.  It is designed to produce applied mathematical scientists who can solve quantitative and qualitative problems arising in practical applications, (for example, in areas such as computer aided industrial design, operations research, engineering or systems analysis). The MAMS program is intended for people who wish to sharpen their mathematical skills for use in applied situations.

The MAMS degree offered in the Mathematics Department is inherently interdisciplinary in nature.  A principal feature of the MAMS program is that the student works on an individual problem.  This problem can come from any applied area of study, (for example, physics, agricultural engineering, ecology, marine sciences or finance).  Some upper level course work in that area may be included in the student's program of study.  The project results are written up by the student in a substantial technical report.  The student also gives an oral presentation of the report to the faculty.  The technical report should clearly describe the problem, detail the mathematical analysis and results, and interpret the results in terms of the original problem.

Prerequisites: In order to be admitted to the MAMS program, a student must have taken courses in multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and ordinary differential equations.  Students should also have had some experience with computers.

Course  Work:  The course work in students' programs of study should broaden their knowledge and skills in applied mathematics.  To obtain a MAMS degree the student must pass 33 credit hours of approved course work, including either:

Real Analysis (MATH 6100) or Complex Variables (MATH 6150)

 and either

Probability (MATH 6600) or Introduction to Partial Differential Equations (MATH 6720).

At least 12 credit hours of 8000-level mathematics courses must be included in the student's program of study with at least one course taken from each of any two of the following areas:

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

• Advanced Numerical Analysis (MATH 8500, 8510, 8520)
• Special Topics in Numerical analysis (MATH 8550)

PROBABILITY

• Probability (MATH 8600)
• Stochastic Processes (MATH 8620)
• Stochastic Analysis (MATH 8630)

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

• Indistrial Mathematics (MATH 8700)
• Variational Methods/Perturbation Theory (MATH 8710)
• Ordinary Differential Equations (MATH 8740)
• Partial Differential Equations (MATH 8770)

In addition students may take up to nine hours of course work in other departments in an area related to the technical report project.

Technical Report:  A distinguishing feature of the MAMS program is the writing and presentation of a technical report following an investigation into a real-world applied mathematics problem.  This report, written under the guidance of a faculty advisor, consists of three parts:

1. The introduction in which the problem is explained clearly in non-technical terms;
   
2. The description of the mathematically formulated problem and the mathematical analysis performed;  The summary which relates the results of the problem and explains any conclusions.
   
3. The report and presentation may be viewed as training for a real job situation where one communicates the results of a project and any relevant conclusions to a manager or a client.